Language in job advertisements and the reproduction of labor force gender and racial segregation

Hu, Yang and Denier, Nicole and Ding, Lei and Tarafdar, Monideepa and Konnikov, Alla and Hughes, Karen D. and Hu, Shenggang and Knowles, Bran and Shi, Enze and Alshehabi Al-Ani, Jabir and Rets, Irina and Kong, Linglong and Yu, Dengdeng and Dai, Hongsheng and Jiang, Bei (2024) Language in job advertisements and the reproduction of labor force gender and racial segregation. PNAS Nexus. ISSN 2752-6542 (In Press)

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Abstract

Job advertisements (ads) represent the first point of contact between employers and job seekers. By signaling characteristics expected of an ideal candidate, job ads “gatekeep” the labor force and configure its composition. Meanwhile, labor force composition can also shape the wording of job ads. This study develops a multidimensional inventory of gender and EDI (equality, diversity, inclusion) language in job ads. Applying this inventory, it adopts an instrumental-variable approach to disentangle the reciprocal relationships between gender/EDI language in job ads and labor force gender/racial composition. Drawing on the analysis of 28.6 million job ads in the United Kingdom in combination with labor force statistics between 2018 and 2023, the findings reveal three distinct mechanisms through which the bidirectional interplay between language in job ads and labor force composition (re)produces or disrupts labor force gender/racial segregation. They highlight both the benefits and limitations of intervening in the language used in job ads to help reduce labor force gender/racial segregation.